Back to Sandy's

Aubrey went back to Sandy's (her baby-sitter) for the first time since June today. It took her less than 10 minutes to decide that she'd rather stay and play than hang on Mommy and then she was gone. I called her around lunchtime to see how she was doing - she asked me to come pick her up and I told her later on and she seemed ok with that :)

I worked yesterday, delivering books and meeting new teachers. I was tired at the end of the day - I didn't sleep very well last night. I'm taking care of some things down at CTC today and then Aubrey and I will probably play on her swingset this afternoon.

She went to a horse sale with Grandpa and Auntie Rachel today, I'm sure she's having a ball!

-A

Posts Continue

I wanted to let everyone who has been following us for the past 18 months know that I plan to continue to keep up with this blog. One of these days, I will get around to changing the name and maybe even the design, if I get adventurous :).

We were extremely blessed (and continue to be each day I get the mail) with your kind words and hugs and prayers for our entire family Wednesday and Thursday. Ryan loved God, life, and other people and it truly showed. We are mourning and missing him, but he wouldn't have wanted our lives to stop and they will not.

Aubrey and I, along with my parents, Kaitlyn and Camryn, Rachel and Nathan, and Jake and Brandi visited the fair today. We rode rides, looked at the few animals that were left, laughed and enjoyed junk food! At one point, a butterfly landed on my watch, then flew away, returned, flew away, and then returned to my fingers. It was then stuck, I tried to shoo it away, but had to practically knock it off before getting on a ride. It then returned and landed in my hair. It felt special to me, like someone was smiling down on us.

Your prayers and remembrances will help us get through this tough period.

One request - A good friend of mine lost her father when she was young. She told me last night that just a couple of years ago, her mom gave her a book of things people had written about her father - a memory, a funny story, a thought about the type of friend or co-worker he was. If you would like to write something for me to keep for Aubrey, please send it to us. I will compile them and keep them for her.


-A

Arrangements

Zechar-Bailey funeral home is taking care of the arrangements.

Ryan's viewing will be held on Wednesday, August 25 from 3:00-8:00 at the Palestine Church of Christ, 209 Lynn Street, Palestine.

We will have a private family burial.

We will be celebrating his life in a service at 11:00 on Thursday, August 26, 11:00, Palestine Church of Christ.

Thank you for all the comments, prayers, and visits. We all miss Ryan and will grieve, but we will continue in God's strength because he has not left us or forsaken us.

-A

God's Promises

God promises that in heaven there is no pain and no suffering. Ryan went home to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ this morning a little after 9:00. Aubrey and I were here, along with Ryan's sister and brother-in-law. Ryan passed peacefully and he is now rejoicing in Heaven with the angels.

Arrangements will be made later today and I will post information here.

-A

Visitors

We had several visitors today. It is enjoyable to sit and talk with people, Ryan didn't wake up for many people, but he did open his eyes and look around a few times.

I have been able to turn Ryan's oxygen down to between 11 and 12. He's saturation has been 93-95. We may turn it down just a little more tomorrow, but I don't think it will be able to go down much more. I wish we could get it so that he didn't have to wear the mask for oxygen because it doesn't appear to be comfortable on his face at all, but right now he needs that, so we're doing our best.

Ryan did sleep most of the day, and didn't use a lot of extra pain medicine. That means he's at least not waking up in pain, which is comforting to me.

It is a struggle to see him look so sick, and I pray constantly that he is comforted and at peace.

-A

A Little Better

Ryan seems maybe just a little better than yesterday. He wasn't alert near as much today, but when the nurse came tonight, she said his breathing was even and that his lungs sounded much better than when she was here on Thursday. That was great news, thank you God.

Ryan is still having a lot of pain and is still on lots of oxygen. We may try to turn that down a little tomorrow when I can watch him and check his breathing. He was to be finished with antibiotics tomorrow night, but Dr. Berger decided that he'd like to extend that for 5 more days, so we will continue antibiotics through next Friday.

Ryan had a few visitors today and I got the chance to visit with some good friends this evening. True friends who will listen are not always easy to come by, but we're thankful for the truly Seuberts and the Wuebkers.

Aubrey stayed at home last night, and she climbed up the side of Ryan's bed tonight, but she went home to stay with my parents' tonight. She'll come back tomorrow night and stay here with me.

I continue to pray for Ryan's pain and breathing discomfort to be taken care of.

-A

Platelets Again

Ryan's nurse came this morning and checked on him. He was fairly alert most of the morning. He sat on the couch almost the whole time, but was able to communicate and was awake for a good several hours. He tried eating some applesauce and grapes, but wasn't able to swallow very well, so most everything he got down, he coughed back up.

The nurse called around 1 with his blood results. His white count is still hanging around at 1.3. This is good from the leukemia standpoint - it isn't coming back up at breakneck speed, but not so good with the pneumonia or whatever bacteria he has because his body isn't able to fight the infection away. His hemoglobin was 10.1 which is still low (I think) but getting closer to normal. His platelets were 11 today and so he got 2 bags of platelets.

I'm still giving him the antibiotics and he's now one oxygen with a mask because I drove him to the hospital and we didn't have protable oxygen to take with us. When we got there and they tested his oxygen level it was in the 50s. It is supposed to be 100, but in the hospital, they give you oxygen if it goes below 90. They put him on a mask so he was able to get more oxygen then just through the nostril pieces. Consequently, Ryan had to ride home tonight in the ambulance because he needed oxygen to go home, but I didn't have any in my van, go figure!

Ryan is sleeping pretty comfortably right now and he has been for about 2 hours.

On a brighter note, Aubrey went to the fair with Grandpa and Grammy tonight and she had a blast. They got home a little before 10 and she was still going strong. Grandpa (Ryan's dad) had a horse in one of tonight's races, so they watched a few of the races and walked around a little bit. She had fun for sure. She is ready to ride some rides though, so I think we're going to have to make a trip or two ourselves.

Continually praying for Ryan's comfort and peace.

-A

God is Faithful

Ryan has been in pain and discomfort today. He was struggling to breath evenly, he was in pain when moving around on the couch and walking to the bathroom; he hasn't eaten or drank much of anything because both actions cause him to cough, which causes more pain. As of right now, he is comfortable. The nurse was out again this evening and the pharmacy brought an oxygen machine so after all the pain medicine, several breathing treatments, and oxygen, he is resting comfortably (I think).

He hasn't been awake much today but there have been a couple of different times where he's talked to me, or at least shook his head to answer my questions.

His nurse will be out again in the morning and he'll have his blood drawn. It is likely that he'll need platelets again, I'm not sure about blood.

Thank you Jill for supper tonight, one less thing I had to worry about today :)

Please continue to pray for God's blessings on our family and comfort and peace for all of us.

-A

A Rough Night

Ryan had a rough night after I posted last evening. After finishing his supper, he wasn't able to keep it down and then things got a little worse from there. He was coughing and getting sick so much that his pain flared up again so he was in a large amount of pain. We had the nurse come out and she gave him some extra meds and that helped calm him. He slept ok - waking up about 3 times over night.

This morning he was running a fever and his breathing is labored. He is still coughing a lot of stuff up and is uncomfortable.

I pray for him to be comforted.

-A

Administering Antibiotics

I have now taken on a new role - I have had to administer two doses of Ryan's antibiotic here at home and will continue that for 4 more days. Ryan is still coughing quite a bit, in fact, he is still trying to eat supper amidst the coughing. He told me that overall the coughing has been better today, but when I listen to him tonight, it doesn't sound very good.

Aubrey and I went to Muncie to Chuck E. Cheese's with our Summer in the Son program at church. We also did some shopping at Rural King for Ryan.

Please pray that the coughing will begin to subside and he will be able to eat better tomorrow.

-A

No Blood Today!

Praise the Lord - today is the first time since Ryan's had blood drawn in the last two weeks that he has not needed to get blood. He did need to get two bags of platelets, but his platelet count was up some from last week. One week ago, it was 3 before the transfusion, today it was 14. That's not a huge jump, but it is a move in the right direction. Ryan would have been ready to leave when I got to the hospital to pick him up after work except that he had been coughing a lot while there and they decided to do a chest x-ray.

Heather, his nurse today, was on the phone with Dr. Berger when I got there after work and a trip to the grocery store. She told me that Dr. Berger wanted to talk with me. Ryan's chest x-ray showed stuff in the bottom of his left lung which they think is pneumonia and Dr. Berger thought it would be best for him to be admitted to the hospital to be treated. Ryan strongly did not want to be admitted to the hospital, so by the time Dr. Berger, Adam, and Heather talked things over, it was decided that Ryan would get a dose of antibiotics and then be sent home to get antibiotics in his IV from home. That means I'll have to hook things up and make sure all is working, but after giving shots, I think I can handle that!

Things went well today and I'm grateful for everyone who was taking care of Ryan and keeping his needs and health in mind.

We pray that the antibiotic does its job and that Ryan's cough breaks up and all is well within a couple of days.

Ryan's white count was 1.39 today - still looking very good.

-A

Not Much Change

Things are going about the same today as yesterday. Ryan is still coughing quite a bit and doesn't hardly have a voice. He ate a little better today than he did yesterday and was up maybe a little bit more today than yesterday.

The nurse comes tomorrow morning to draw his blood, so we'll find out around lunch time whether we'll make another trip to Wayne Hospital for blood or platelets. I'm hoping that his hemoglobin level has finally gotten enough help to stay up and that if he needs anything that it will just be platelets.

I have to go back to work tomorrow. Although I love my job, I always hate having to go back when summer is over . . .

I think that I have neglected to mention on here that Ryan will not be going back to work this fall. He has decided that the best thing to do is take a medical leave of absence from MVCTC. This will last for 1 semester. If he is feeling better in January, he can return to work at that time.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Ryan.

-A

Sleepy Sunday

Ryan didn't think he'd have enough energy for church this morning, so I took him to my parents' and dropped him off before Aubrey and I went to church. After church we had lunch with my family and Ryan rested. Aubrey and Camryn swam with Grandma for a while and then Aubrey napped.

Ryan had a lot of coughing and gunk in his throat today. He didn't eat a whole lot of lunch or supper. I think that as he gets up and moves around more, he doesn't cough as much, but he doesn't have enough energy for staying up for long periods of time right now.

The sermon at church this morning was about prayer and how James tells us that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. We were reminded that prayer changes things and to not be anxious about things because God is near and he hears us.

We daily continue to pray for Ryan to regain his strength.

-A

A Nice Day

Today was a good day. We got up around 8:00 this morning, slept in a little bit :) Aubrey and I lounged on the couch and Ryan worked on cleaning his desk out. Then he and Aubrey played for a while when I took a shower. Then Ryan escaped outside, never to be seen again - ha ha. There were people here working again today, so he had to be outside checking things out, making sure everyone was ok. Later on, we left for Greenville to do a little banking and get some milk. Ryan and Aubrey both slept on the way to town. Aubrey napped when we got home and Ryan spent a couple hours outside before coming in to eat lunch and read up on some brake literature, sounds interesting to me!

When Aubrey got up we played outside, then Ryan's parents came for a visit. After supper Ryan took a short walk with Aubrey and I.

He is feeling better each and every day, and we continue to pray that God blesses as we take this one day at a time.

-A

God Blesses Us

each and every day. Ryan's parents, his sister and brother-in-law, and my dad took turns staying with Ryan yesterday while Aubrey and I went to the Columbus Zoo and Zoombeezi Bay (waterpark). We had a blast and Ryan had a pretty good day as well. He was up and outside with his dad in the morning and was cleaning up his desk and other parts of the house in the afternoon. Of course, he was alseep on the couch waiting for his supper when I got home at 7:00.

I was talking to Sandy (our baby-sitter) on the phone when I pulled in the driveway last night. I was speechless when I saw the number of cars that were parked at our house. Ryan had told me some people were coming over to work around the barns and such, and so I expected maybe 15 - there were more like 40! Ryan and I walked around this morning and he is so excited about everything that was done. If you helped, thank you greatly.

Ryan had to get 2 bags of blood and 2 bags of platelets again today. Today wasn't near as fast as Tuesday, I'm not sure what happened exactly, but he's home now and we're getting ready to call it a night.

Ryan was up and outside again today. He napped some while he was at Wayne Hospital, but when he got home, he had to check out all the work that got done around here tonight. The crew must have been here again, but we missed them while in Greenville, waiting for the blood to finish dripping in. I think it may have been going drop by drop, instead of flowing in . . .

Ryan's white count is starting on its way back up; his platelets and hemoglobin were both up from Tuesday, but just not quite far enough. He has made some progress and seems to feel better each day, so we're very thankful for that.

We continue to pray that his white count stays under control as it begins to build back up and that his hemoglobin and platelet levels can begin to hold their numbers and start growing so we have less time to spend in the hospital.

-A

A Rough Day

Today was a bit rough for Ryan and the rest of the family as well. Ryan did not sleep hardly any last night and this morning was up when I woke up. He was incoherent and very tired. He laid back down at about 7:30 and stayed until the nurse arrived a little before 10. I then left to head to church and his sister Rachel stayed here. She said Ryan slept after the nurse left and he was still sleeping when I arrived home at 12:00. He slept until around 3:00 when we met with Sam Custer about Ryan's plans for work this year and then he was back to sleep. He got up around 7 and started getting some supper ready and then fell back asleep. He finally ate around 8:00. He is in some pain right now, but he's still up and moving around a little.

No fever or anything today, just a little confusion. We pray for a better day tomorrow.

-A

World Record

We had a wonderful weekend with our friends here. My mom told me that it sound as if everyone who went to the wedding except Ryan and I had fun - that's not true. Ryan and I enjoyed ourselves very much as did everyone else. We even got to dance together for a short time.

On Monday, another friend from college and her husband and son came over and so we all got to visit together before Lindsey and the kids had to head towards Pennsylvania and we had to figure out a new routine - still don't have that down yet - that's why I'm not blogging every night.

Today the nurse came out a little after 8 this morning, Ryan was pretty tired. He didn't sleep real well last night. After the nurse, a social worker came out to visit with us. Then we had some lunch and got ready to head to Wayne Hospital. Ryan needed both blood and platelets today, platelets were really low at only 3,000 (normal is over 150,000). Here's the world record part: Ryan got 2 bags of platelets and 2 bags of blood and he was only at the hospital for 4 hours and 15 minutes! I figured he'd be there until around 10:00 tonight, but I picked him up at 6:45. We stopped down at his parents' before coming home and Ryan took a short drive in one of the tractors, then showed Aubrey the mules. He is now "watching TV" or watching the backs of his eyelids :)

Ryan is still experiencing pain, although it is getting to be better controlled. He is also still very fatigued and is trying to regain his strength.

-A

Birthday Fun

Yesterday was Aubrey's birthday and she had to take a trip to the doctor. She is ok, just allergies bothering her. She coughed a lot last night, we'll see how tonight goes. We had a wedding reception to attend yesterday and we had guests come to visit us. The friends that we were going to visit in Pennsylvania came to visit us since we couldn't make it out there. Aubrey and Lindsey and Ben's two children, Sam and Caroline enjoyed themselves at Curt and Monica's reception.

Today after church we had Aubrey's birthday party and she had a blast. She was very into her presents and the animals on her birthday cake. She enjoyed licking the icing off the feet of the animals and then dipping the animal back into the cake for more icing.

Ryan stayed home from church today so that he could enjoy Aubrey's party. He made it though most of it before having to take a nap. He slept most of the afternoon, but has been up since around 5:30. He's still having some pain in his back and shoulders and he is running a fever again tonight.

We continue to pray that Ryan gains strength each and every day and that we can get his pain under control.

-A

Feeling Better

Ryan's fever went up overnight and then down and up again. He also had a lot of pain overnight and we called a nurse who came and "tweaked" his pain medicine dosage to help him sleep a little better. It was finally under control mid-morning. Ryan was up shuffling around most of the morning and then ate lunch and took a nap. When he got up from his nap he was sweating and his fever had broke. I think it is still down. Although, I think Aubrey is running a bit of a fever. She may have to go to the doctor next!

We continue to pray that God is healing Ryan through this and each day we are seeking his guidance in getting us through that day.

-A

Keeping On

Today we had a nurse come out to the house to draw Ryan's blood. We are hoping that this arrangement will lessen the time that he has to be setting at Wayne Hospital waiting for blood results and then blood or platelets if he needs them. Ryan's white count was .1 on Monday and .26 today. It is beginning to come up from the chemotherapy two weeks ago. His platelets were 7 so he had to get some platelets today, but his hemoglobin was 9.4, so that wasn't needed today.

Except for one small handle on the sandbox cover, the swingset is done! We also got the cistern covered tonight so it will be safer outside for Aubrey and other kids who come to play. Thanks to Ben, Jason and Amy, and my parents for getting the work done!

Ryan is running a fever tonight. Please pray that it will go away.

-A

Recovering

Ryan is still scheduled to get his blood drawn every Monday and Thursday at Wayne Hospital. He went yesterday morning, I dropped him off at 8:00. He called around 10 and said that he would have to get blood and platelets, both counts were low. No big deal - I'd pick him up around 6 or so after I picked up Aubrey at my parents. So, I finished up my work in the office, then went back home to mow the yard. I talked to him again around 1:00, he was just getting started with his first of two bags of blood and his picc line wasn't working, so each bag was going to take 3 hours! He called again around 5 and the second bag was going. I finally picked him up at 7:45 - what a long day.

He and I were both frustrated that a whole day was wasted there, but he was feeling a bit tired and the blood helped. He is still having some pain in his shoulder. He thinks it is a nerve, but it really bothers him sometimes. Please pray that his pain will be gone and that he builds strength each and every day. Our big birthday party for Aubrey is on Sunday!

-A

Home Again

Sorry it took me so long to post that we are home, again. We got home around 7 last evening and unpacked a few things. Aubrey went for a snack and I found that I had an infestation of ants! When I moved a few more things, I found that I also had a mouse or the evidence of a mouse. If it returns tonight - it will be no longer! I spent most of today cleaning out the pantry and Russell put a new piece of wood in the back to reinforce and cover the holes. I put out lots of traps. I still have ants, but I've moved everything until we can get that problem taken care of.

Ryan slept a lot today. He feels ok, just doesn't have hardly any energy at all. I'm taking him to Wayne Hospital tomorrow for a blood draw - hopefully his platelets are staying up and he won't need an infusion.

We pray for strength for Ryan.

-A